Comfortable executive-type and airline-type seats are expensive due to their method of construction and to the amount of labor which must be utilized to produce the seats. Such seats are expected to have a comfortable and attractive armrest portion which contributes to the expensiveness of the seats.
Airline seats and some executive seats are also expected to have an armrest portion which has a slot which may receive a table or the like. This necessity for a slot or pocket increases the complexity of the armrest portion of the seat and is another reason for the relatively large amounts of labor which must be put into the manufacture of the seat armrest portion and the reason for the high cost associated with the seat armrest portion. In addition, many executive or airline seats have some decorative side panel which must be attached to the armrest portion in some manner. In some instances, the panel is merely glued or in some other manner securely affixed in a non-removable manner to the outside portion of the armrest portion. However, in this instance, the panel is not readily removable for cleaning or for changing to a different color or a different configuration of decorative panel. An alternative method of mounting a decorative panel to the outside of the armrest portion of the seat is by use of snaps and the like. Unfortunately, such snaps and the like are difficult to precisely locate and if they are located properly this can consume a considerable amount of time. On the other hand, of course, if the snaps or the like are improperly located, then it is difficult to remove or replace the panel from the armrest portion of the seat.
These difficulties associated with the armrest portions of seats have been reduced or eliminated by the present invention which provides a high quality appearing armrest seat portion which is readily manufactured and assembled in a comparatively short period of time at reduced costs. Furthermore, the addition or removal of the decorative side panel has been greatly simplified with the present invention.